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U.S. Coast Guard turns 229 Years Old - And this is how's its treated.
Time for one of my annual rants.
The U.S. Coast Guard turns 229 years old on August 4. While I only spent 21 years, 9 months growing up in the Coast Guard and retired in 1993, I am still extremely proud of everything the men and women of the Coast Guard does on a daily basis. Thousands of people are still alive and walking this planet because of the unselfish nature of Coasties who perform rescue missions on a daily basis - not because they are ordered to, but because they know no one else would do it.
They are also out there patrolling the waters to prevent illegal drugs from entering the country, even when it means jumping from a small boat onto the top of a submersible vessel and pounding on the hatch. Over a billion dollars in drugs are seized annually by the Coast Guard.
While it is often overlooked by just about everyone when it comes to discussing "military services," the Coast Guard is the oldest continuous seagoing service in the country. The U.S. Navy may claim its foundation to the Continental Navy of the Revolutionary War, that Continental Navy was disbanded after the war and the current U.S. Navy was created by Congress until 1794 - four years after the founding of the Revenue Marine which was renamed the Revenue Cutter Service before merging with the Lifesaving Service and becoming the U.S. Coast Guard. The names may have changed but the missions always stays the same. By the way, the U.S. Coast Guard or its predecessor's have fought in every war since its founding. In World War II, it was Coast Guard manned landing craft that put the soldiers and Marines on the beaches during amphibious landings and then stood by to rescue those who needed rescuing. The Coast Guard's only Medal of Honor awardee, Signalman First Class Douglas Munro, received the Medal posthumously for his actions in rescuing 500 Marines from a beach in Guadalcanal. A small fleet of 83-foot Coast Guard vessels had the mission of rescuing those in the water at the Normandy Invasion. Coast Guard personnel are still at war, serving in the Middle East on vital port security and vessel escort duties. Coast Guard personnel have also been stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan to supervise the arrival and departure of supply containers.
But still, the U.S. Coast Guard gets overlooked. Its cutters are old and its a constant losing battle to get properly funded. How old? The Coast Guard youngest inland construction tender (vessels that works the buoys and aids-to-navigation on U.S. rivers) was commissioned in 1989 making it 30-years old. The oldest Coast Guard vessel, the Smilax,was commissioned in 1944. In fact, the majority of the vessels in the Coast Guard see 30 to 40 years of service before being decommissioned.
But despite the lip service paid to the Coast Guard by members of Congress and all other politicians, the Coast Guard is buried in the Department of Homeland Security (It was formerly under the Treasury Department and the Department of Transportation) and is funded at a barebones level while being told to do more missions. At one time the Coast Guard had at least seven polar class icebreakers. Now there is one, the Polar Star, which was commissioned in 1976 and one "medium" icebreaker capable vessel the Healy which is primarily used for fisheries patrol. Here's a link to an interesting story about the Polar Star. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-08-02/antarctica-polar-star-icebreaker?fbclid=IwAR2Cp1fOOe4kaFWymTVdCH9dl7gsoQ39jIpiYLUNiyeSSZG-z-8i7WviX1I
The U.S. Coast Guard turns 229 years old on August 4. While I only spent 21 years, 9 months growing up in the Coast Guard and retired in 1993, I am still extremely proud of everything the men and women of the Coast Guard does on a daily basis. Thousands of people are still alive and walking this planet because of the unselfish nature of Coasties who perform rescue missions on a daily basis - not because they are ordered to, but because they know no one else would do it.
They are also out there patrolling the waters to prevent illegal drugs from entering the country, even when it means jumping from a small boat onto the top of a submersible vessel and pounding on the hatch. Over a billion dollars in drugs are seized annually by the Coast Guard.
While it is often overlooked by just about everyone when it comes to discussing "military services," the Coast Guard is the oldest continuous seagoing service in the country. The U.S. Navy may claim its foundation to the Continental Navy of the Revolutionary War, that Continental Navy was disbanded after the war and the current U.S. Navy was created by Congress until 1794 - four years after the founding of the Revenue Marine which was renamed the Revenue Cutter Service before merging with the Lifesaving Service and becoming the U.S. Coast Guard. The names may have changed but the missions always stays the same. By the way, the U.S. Coast Guard or its predecessor's have fought in every war since its founding. In World War II, it was Coast Guard manned landing craft that put the soldiers and Marines on the beaches during amphibious landings and then stood by to rescue those who needed rescuing. The Coast Guard's only Medal of Honor awardee, Signalman First Class Douglas Munro, received the Medal posthumously for his actions in rescuing 500 Marines from a beach in Guadalcanal. A small fleet of 83-foot Coast Guard vessels had the mission of rescuing those in the water at the Normandy Invasion. Coast Guard personnel are still at war, serving in the Middle East on vital port security and vessel escort duties. Coast Guard personnel have also been stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan to supervise the arrival and departure of supply containers.
But still, the U.S. Coast Guard gets overlooked. Its cutters are old and its a constant losing battle to get properly funded. How old? The Coast Guard youngest inland construction tender (vessels that works the buoys and aids-to-navigation on U.S. rivers) was commissioned in 1989 making it 30-years old. The oldest Coast Guard vessel, the Smilax,was commissioned in 1944. In fact, the majority of the vessels in the Coast Guard see 30 to 40 years of service before being decommissioned.
But despite the lip service paid to the Coast Guard by members of Congress and all other politicians, the Coast Guard is buried in the Department of Homeland Security (It was formerly under the Treasury Department and the Department of Transportation) and is funded at a barebones level while being told to do more missions. At one time the Coast Guard had at least seven polar class icebreakers. Now there is one, the Polar Star, which was commissioned in 1976 and one "medium" icebreaker capable vessel the Healy which is primarily used for fisheries patrol. Here's a link to an interesting story about the Polar Star. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-08-02/antarctica-polar-star-icebreaker?fbclid=IwAR2Cp1fOOe4kaFWymTVdCH9dl7gsoQ39jIpiYLUNiyeSSZG-z-8i7WviX1I
Comments
Disrespect for the USCG - United States Coast Guard Forums and ...
www.uscg.org › United States Coast Guard Forum › Welcome Aboard
May 23, 2015 - New member here.I have been on a local forum with guy who is absolutely despicable.Here is what he thinks of the Coast Guard.We are ...
why does everyone disrespect the Coast Guard? - Military Quotes
https://www.military-quotes.com/.../why-does-everyone-disrespect-coast-t88547.html
Feb 10, 2011 - 10 posts - 7 authors
this is a question asked by my friends son who wants to join. i told him its because nobody knows what the CG really does. i would like all ...
Why do other branches disrespect the coast guard? - Quora
https://www.quora.com/Why-do-other-branches-disrespect-the-coast-guard
Mar 30, 2018 - Why do other branches disrespect the coast guard? ... Our missions span from customs and immigration to law enforcement, search and rescue, and to defend our coast and shores should a war push itself to our shores. As such, many branches do not see us as a military services, since most militaries are for conducting war.
And it takes a hell of a lot of skill and experience to sail around the coastal rocks and bring your craft back intact. Whereas, with entire oceans to maneuver in, the Navy still manages to ram their ships into each other on a regular basis. Never could figure that one out.
Of course, we did have our one-and-only unofficial "submarine." Unless I'm confusing two different ships, it was the Tamaroa, which sank multiple times, including while tied up at the pier.